“Quick, kiss me!”

Those words spoken in the dimly lit casino literally knock the air out of of the stallion’s lungs. Does she seriously want him to kiss her? Right then and now in front of a massive crowd of ponies?

Although with the sudden demand and his loss of oxygen, a thought creeps into the charcoal stallion’s mind.

This is a dream come true for him! A part of him had always suspected that the colorful mare had a level of adoration for him ever since he and his brother moved to Ponyville from Cloudsdale with just their saddles and his couch... And thought her cloud was theirs. Despite the mix-up and brief flare of annoyance, she had been quick to forgive and offer him a job with the Ponyville Weather Patrol.

He had thought that the very up-close, hoof-on training for Weather Patrol and Winter Wrap Up has been how she always did things and that the complaints of her being a “lazy teacher” had been exaggerated. But now that he thinks about it, it is his word of her being a great teacher against the claims of two dozen ponies.

He really wants to slam his face against a brick wall, too, since her sudden plea for a kiss has sparked a mental montage of the all signs she gave him.

Every joke, from moving his cloud house to creating rain where he is trying to sleep, had been a school filly act. He still remembers when she accidentally spit gum in his mane and tried getting it out with peanut butter, but a part of him had believed that she only did that just to feel his mane. Then there is the surprise party she did after he got out of the hospital from the feather flu and her sudden thin-skin around him when he dated the Cloud Twins. Those should have made things more obvious for him, but they did not and now he feels like a complete idiot for not seeing these things sooner.

But now here they are. In a casino with her wanting him to kiss her. All is forgiven and a new, fresh start is on the way between them. And what better way to symbolize this than by a kiss?

The stallion really wants to kiss her, too. So much, in fact, that he wants to blurt out an “Oh yeah!”, grab the beautiful mare and tilt her down like they are in a dance and plant a strong kiss on her lips. But his body has other plans for him.

All he can do is widen his eyes and say: “What!”

He’s cursing himself now. Why the heck would you say that when one is being offered a free kiss? A free kiss from a mare you’ve known for years and had spared no expense in getting your attention by teasing, nonetheless!

“No time to explain. Just kiss me!” says the rainbow colored object of attraction.

He’s a bit confused, now. He can’t tell if she is antsy from excitement from finally kissing the colt she has always teased, or if she is jittery for another reason. He knows he’s anxious, though. He’s only ever kissed his mother, and those were cheek kisses, not lip kisses.

Does this mare want a cheek kiss, or a lip kiss? Or is she going to go for a Crystal kiss?

He knows those ponies in the Crystal Kingdom can get pretty kinky, and he knows the mare in front of him is a wild card. She’ll do just about anything for attention. Or will she?

Stop stalling and do it like they do it in the books, his what his heart is telling him. How hard can it be to grab, press lips and possible wiggle a tongue in?

No. No tongue. Just lips. The Crystal Kiss is pervy and a simple one will be a lot easier and better, he thinks. This whole situation is a just do it kind of ordeal, but again, he is paralyzed in her presence.

What if he screws up? What if she doesn’t want a lip, but a cheek? What if she goes for a tongue? What if the kiss will escalate to something more and his inexperience will surface and completely embarrass him and leave him to freeze to death in the snowstorm of shame!?

Why does she even want to be kissed by him when she has the hots for Soarin!?

“Why!” cries the stallion, his voice shaking as much as his body in its near collapse state.

He wants to ask why she wants him to kiss her when she is supposed to be with Soarin, but seeing as how the two have been behaving around each other he figures he already knows.

Revenge!

He is an instrument for revenge, and she is hoping to make her old courter jealous by making out with a Hurricane in front of a Pansy.

Unless they are sharing her.

But that would not make sense since it is supposed to be the other way around with a stallion hoarding mares. A tradition not widely practiced in this contemporary time, but still not unheard of or outlawed.

He sees Rainbow Dash look around the corner, fidgeting in her spot with a low, panicky mumble escaping her. He starts getting worried because he does not see any cause for concern, and right as he is about to ask what is wrong, she turns, yanks him close and brutally smashes her lips against his.

The sheer strength of her move knocks the stallion to his rump, and any passerby will see an almost cartoony, sight with their black and blue muzzles mashed together.

The stallion's eyes remain wide and terrified with the combination of the blitz kiss and embarrassing fall, but because of this, he can see the mare's eyes drift shut in bliss. He is hoping it is bliss, anyway, since he finds himself liking it and her lips are refusing to leave his. With each passing second, her kiss becomes more tender, more relaxed, like a great weight has been lifted off of her shoulders. She is finally kissing the stallion she has been teasing for quite some time and he is finally being kissed by the mare that helped him settle in Ponyville.

He wants to take the moment more intimate level, to transform their spark into a passionate flame. His racing heart might as well be screaming in his ear for him to finally give in to his desires, but all he does is tense and burn.

Rainbow Dash’s warm breath brushing against his dark coat only heats his body more, and her soft breathing and barely heard groan is sending his heart soaring. It is the first time he has heard her make a sound like that and he loves it! He wants to hear more of it!

Though, despite wanting to hear more from her, the stallion still trembles while she remains firm, and a part of him wonders how it will be if the roles are reversed. What if she quivers under him and he remains steady?

This thought brings to mind an excitement he has not felt in a long time, and his eyes drift shut to take his imagination to an erotic place where all his fantasies can come true. That is what he wants to do, but even though he wants to wrap his hoof around her neck and hold her close so they can kiss until they need air, his hoof remains as stone.

He knows this is wrong. She is a teammate and is being courted by a Pansy, nonetheless. He should break away and pretend it never happened. But Rainbow Dash doesn't want him to leave. Her hoof hooks around his neck and she tugs him closer to her, and he feels her mouth trying to open his more. He feels like his face is about to burn off from the heat on his cheeks.

Forget about that Pansy and forget about your insecurities. Enjoy what she is offering and take her. That is what his heart is telling him to do, but his mouth stays locked, too frightened to let the colorful pegasus in. He doesn't mind, though, for he finding the kiss to be more tender without the tongue play, and for all he knows, she hasn’t brushed her teeth. He knows he hasn’t.

And when he opens his eyes again, his body is a wreck. He is barely able to move with the crippling pain stabbing at his limbs and sides, and his heart thumps like massive drums as he watches Rainbow Dash bleeding profusely and struggling to get up to meet their new foe.

A pony in a full body painting suit.

He tries to call for her, but he can only cough and collapse to the ground. He gets back up and tries to run to her again, to protect her from this new menace, but the excruciating pain that rips at his limbs forces him down on the destroyed pavement. He grinds his teeth, fighting to keep the tears and cries of agony at bay as he clings to a fire hydrant for support.

He watches helplessly as the Painter strolls down the crumbled street, passing overturned vehicles and collapsed walls, and casually crushing rubble under his hooves. The Painter’s steps are almost robotic with how heavy and calculated they are, and even though Thunderlane can’t see past the breathing mask and thick goggles, he knows what the unholy unicorn wants.

He wants to kill her. But he wants to see Rainbow Dash suffer before he takes her life.

Despite her body being broken, Rainbow Dash still challenges the Painter. With a scream of pain and defiance, she stands up and expands her good wing as far as it can go as she snorts hot air and bloody bubbles at him. She is afraid, but still she stands to fight him, but all three of them know that this is a fight she cannot win. And all three of them are prepared to act with as much ferocity as they can in the face of Loyalty’s last stand.

The pegasus stallion grunts as he repositions himself to get an aim on the Painter.

The Painter continues walking, completely oblivious to Thunderlane’s crosshairs. This is good. He will be caught completely off guard.

Thunderlane takes a ragged breath.

He aims.

He fires.

He misses.

There is no time for disappointment, though. The crack of Thunderlane’s battle saddle is met instantly with a horrific sound of retaliation. He doesn’t even get a chance to fire a second round as the Painter’s horn sparks and blasts him in the chest with a telekinetic burst that crushes all his rib and the air out of his lungs.

Thunderlane is blinded by the green light of the Painter’s magic, and when it fades his world is a blur of dust and broken glass and wood as he goes airborne into the structure behind him. When he lands, he can’t even scream, only gasp as his armor digs into the floor, leaving more of his bones rattled and possibly broken, and his muscles burning. He slides all the way to the other end of the store, carrying flakes of rubble with him, and when he comes to a stop, he is panting and trembling.

He hears Rainbow Dash scream, but he cannot close his eyes to hide from his failure. He stares up at the ceiling, watching the hanging lamp fixture swing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, creaking and sparking, lighting up his darkness with tiny blobs of light.

Seconds later, he is no longer able to keep his eyes up or open, and his head falls to the side to see a display of posters through the dim lights. As darkness creeps in from the sides, his heavy eyes focus on a poster of Fluttershy posing with her rabbit. The caption reads: ‘BE KIND’, and underneath is a gold plate stating: ‘Item #505’.

Thunderlane closes his eyes and-

-ends up waking up to Rumble’s horrible taste in music and a couple of other familiar voices to go along with his brother’s as they chat good naturedly. One is distinguished by his grizzled voice and the other belongs to that of a mare who loves to pamper the baby of the family. That being said, Thunderlane groans and buries his face into his pillow.

His parents are here.

A few minutes pass before Thunderlane musters up the courage leave the safety of his bed. Though, the courage is minimal since he sluggishly slides out from underneath his blanket and nearly crawls back inside when he hears his father laugh. After going out from under the blanket, he steps towards his door with careful strides and presses his hoof against the bronze knob that is keeping him separated from a comfortable blanket and an unpleasant encounter.

Thunderlane knows that it will be rude to not go out and greet his parents, though. He also reasons that they want to see him, and so, with a great, deep breath and a small pep talk directed towards himself, he twists the knob and goes out.

The noise increases drastically with the cheerful talks and giggles from his mother, and once he enters the living, all eyes go on Thunderlane and he smiles tiredly in greeting at the two older pegasi in his apartment. The stallion, General Gale Hurricane, has a faded golden coat with a dark gray mane cropped to military standards, with a tornado as his cutie mark. The mare, Amber Grain Hurricane, has a grayed cyan color with her amber mane tied back in a ponytail, and her cutie mark consists of a baby crib resting on a moon.

"There’s the sleepyhead!” says Gale with a heartily laugh.

The General hooks his hoof around Thunderlane’s neck and drags him to the center of the living room, and only releases him after giving him a noogie that leaves his head feeling raw and devoid of a few strands of mane. Before Thunderlane can properly recuperate from the blitz noogie, he is ambushed by his mother’s love, all while still rubbing his head. So his hoof is put in an incredibly awkward position as his mother hugs him with a loving stranglehold, and she also completely ignores the gaks he makes from his oxygen deprivation.

“Mom... I gak!... I can’t... I can't breathe!” says Thunderlane between his gasps for air.

Whether Amber Grain heard him or not, Thunderlane is not sure, but he is relieved when she pulls away from him, asking: “What did you boys have for breakfast?”

Thunderlane swallows his air and rubs the sore spot left behind by Amber Grain’s hug as she trots towards the kitchen. He would answer, but Rumble takes the spotlight.

“Absolutely nothing,” boasts the young, chunky stallion.

“What?” gasps Amber Grain, then she turns to Gale, her eyes wide like dinner plates and her hoof aimed limply at the kitchen. “Honey, they haven’t had breakfast yet!”

“Not my problem,” scoffs Gale.

“But-”

“Mom, relax, we got leftovers,” says Thunderlane.

Gale smirks. “See? Told you it wasn’t my problem.”

Amber Grain huffs. “Leftovers, huh?”

Then she pokes her head in the refrigerator, and all Thunderlane can do is facehoof and wish that his mother would stop snooping around. Her constant nopes, ews, whats, and oh goodnesses grind his gears to breaking point, and after a minute of this, he steps forward, getting ready to politely ask her to get her head out of his fridge when-

“Whatever happened to that nice filly, you were with?” asks Amber Grain, her head still in the fridge.

Thunderlane pauses. Her question catches him completely off guard, and it takes him a few seconds to realize who she is talking about. This leads to an unpleasant memory regarding a certain pegasus mare, his couch, and bug spray.

“You mean Flitter?” says Thunderlane with a frown.

Amber Grain removes her head with Thunderlane's leftover fish meal from last night in her hoof and casually tosses it in the garbage can. Joining the meal is more long expired food, such as solid milk, liquefied bread and a bar of soap stabbed with rock-hard asparagus crusted with jelly.

Thunderlane's ears droop when he sees his precious meal get tossed into the garbage can, and he only snaps out of his saddened state when Amber Grain calls him.

“What was that?” says Thunderlane with his ears perked and golden eyes large like a buck in spotlights.

“What happened to Flitter? I thought she was a nice mare. She matched your personality perfectly,” says Amber Grain.

Thunderlane seethes quietly as he rubs the back of his neck, eyes averting to the carpet to distract him from that horrific day.

“It didn’t work out,” he says carefully.

“Why? What happened?” asks Amber Grain

“Well... you see... there was this beetle-”

“Forget about Flitter. What about Cloudchaser?” blurts Gale, earning him a sharp glare from his wife and son. “I thought she was just the kind of mare you needed to counter your extreme lifestyle?”

Thunderlane's angered expression devolves to near murder as he shifts his eyes to Rumble. “She was unfaithful.”

Rumble sees the look of death his older brother gave him, and he slides out of the living room, towards the kitchen, and seeks refuge inside the refrigerator. Gale, meanwhile, is oblivious to this, so he just shrugs and mutters something along the lines of “Too bad” and sits on the couch, brushing away something that Thunderlane cannot see.

“Dad, what are you doing here?” asks Thunderlane after some hesitation.

“What? Can’t we drop by to see how our sons our doing?” says Gale.

“Didn’t Rumble tell you we were coming?” asks Amber Grain.

Thunderlane shakes his head and Amber Grain frowns at Rumble. The young stallion is munching on a plate of fish chips when he realizes he is being silently scorned by his mother, and so he stops chewing and stares at her with big puppy eyes and cheeks puffed out from the food still in his mouth. She breaks down.

“Dawww!” She says, and then she hugs him and strokes his gray mane. “Silly colt forgot to tell you.”

Rumble smiles without opening his mouth and greedily absorbs all the attention his mother is giving him, leaving Thunderlane jealous that he never got that kind of attention when he was younger. But Thunderlane doesn’t have the time to simmer in his envy, for Gale starts talking, thus snapping him out of his sibling rivalry mentality for the time being.

“Anyway, since you asked, I am leading the committee for the next part of Captain Pansy’s hearing,” says Gale over his wife’s nonsensical Rumble buttering.

“So, you just dropped by because we were on the way?” inquires Thunderlane.

“Yes. And besides, I wanted to have a word with my boy over there.”

Gale tilts his head towards Rumble, and Thunderlane nods, hoping that his father will talk some sense into his younger brother.

“And I also wanted to have a word with you,” adds Gale.

Thunderlane tenses and feels a lump go in his throat as the tone his father is using brings back the memories of when he was just a colt. The disapproving stare and his hard tone serve as warning signs to Thunderlane that he has once again screwed up in the eyes of his father. As his father bores into him with his unforgiving gaze, Thunderlane tilts his head down just so he doesn’t have to deal with those hardened eyes.

“Let’s go outside.” Gale says sternly.

Thunderlane nods and wordlessly follows his father to the balcony outside. The chill of the morning air is something pegasi can deal with on the genetic level due to their thicker coats and feathers, but the cold his father carries with him is something Thunderlane never got used to. Once Gale shuts the door behind him, Thunderlane flinches and the voices of Amber Grain and Rumble disappear.

The two stallions go to the balcony’s edge, and Gale puts one hoof on the wooden rail while keeping his eyes locked on Thunderlane. However, Thunderlane is not able to meet the General’s gaze. He looks down at the waking city below, watching as the military motor wagons chug along the paved roads, with the Gatling guns swerving cautiously while soldiers of the Royal Guard march in formation down the once decorative sidewalks, now dirty and cracked.

“How are your shrink visits?” asks Gale, utterly failing to be friendly.

“They’ve been fine, sir,” mumbles Thunderlane.

“Really? That’s not how I hear it.”

Thunderlane glances at Gale out of the corner of his eye, looking back down at the waking city once more when the harsh stare becomes too much.

“What is this nonsense about numbers?” demands Gale.

Thunderlane sighs. He really wants to demand to know why his father is snooping around, or why there was a breach in patient-doctor confidentiality in the first place. He wants to, but he can’t get the words to leave his mouth. They clog and pile up on top of each other in his throat, leaving a choking feeling and a wetness in his eyes.

“Thunderlane, you are like a son to me, and I am worried that you -a Hurricane- are tarnishing our family name with these visits,” continues Gale.

“I am your son,” says Thunderlane hurtfully after a breath of pause. “And with all do respect, sir, I was ordered to see Dr. Pad until she says I’m good to go. I’m not trying to ruin the our family name with these visits, but it is something that I have to do.”

Gale points at Thunderlane, nostrils flaring and eyes narrowing. “Hurricanes do not see shrinks. Pansies see shrinks. Other pegasi see shrinks. Weaklings see shrinks. But you are a Hurricane. You are not weak. You do not need to see anypony who practices that pseudo-medicine nonsense! I’m putting the order in to remove you from this Dr. Pad’s care first thing tomorrow. Then you can finally be one step closer to being a real Hurricane.”

Before Thunderlane can make any thoughts of the audacity of objecting, Gale leaves his presence, and without looking at him, he orders Thunderlane to get ready to go out to eat. The door opens, the cheery sounds of Amber Grain and Rumble having a good time mesh with Gale’s pleasant greeting, and then the door closes, cutting off all the cheer. Thunderlane stares at the door, watching the painful scene unfold. His father does his noogie on Rumble. Amber Grain scolds him and pampers Rumble. And all three walk out of sight to prepare for whatever meal the General has in mind.

Thunderlane looks down at the street again, seeing a lone civilian motor wagon poke out from its shelter and brave the guarded roads. Like a cautious animal, it goes slow, with the driver no doubt alert in their vehicle, and gradually it picks up speed until it rounds the corner. Once it is out of sight, Thunderlane walks back inside with his head down.

Hours later, the Hurricane Family is sitting inside a lavish restaurant called Le Cristal D'or. At Le Cristal, all the tables are covered in white sheets, the chairs look like metal leaves woven into each other, and the windows are large enough to brag to all the commoners that they cannot afford the food inside. The place itself is brightly lit with enormous chandeliers that dangle from the ceilings from their thick cables, and a band of upscale violinists and cellists play boring music.

With the way the food is priced and described, Thunderlane is hoping that he will get a good meal to help alleviate the crappy morning, but right as he gets what he ordered from a snobbish unicorn waiter, he knows he just experienced highway robbery.

The dish is made up of a hoof bowl sized stack of hay and flowers, and the plate’s bleached white design does nothing to make the pile look any bigger. There is also dark chocolate syrup drizzled on the edge of the plate, not touching any of the actual food. For the life of him, Thunderlane can’t understand why anyone would do that, and when he glances at Rumble he notices his brother has the same disappointment for his similar meal.

“It’s like elf food,” says Rumble sadly.

Thunderlane nods sympathetically and looks to his parents. They are enjoying their meals, and the same snob places a bottle of wine in front of the two elder pegasi.

“On the house,” says the unicorn, his tone just as snobbish as his stance.

Gale thanks the waiter, and as soon as the unicorn is gone, he turns his gaze to Rumble. “So, Rumble, how’s the job at Mr. Rich?”

If Rumble could have turned into stone, he would have since the sudden question stiffens him down to the core. While Thunderlane is slightly pleased to see his brother put on his father’s mental crosshairs, he figures it is best not to let that show, lest he wants another bucket of watered down honey tossed on his face while he sleeps. So, to avoid the temptation of smirking at Rumble squeamishness, he tries to enjoy his pathetic meal.

“Well, how was your first day?” probes Gale.

“Yeah, about that...” begins Rumble, now sweating buckets. “I went to the interview and botched it. So I didn’t get the job.”

Gale arches a brow. “Really? Are you sure you didn’t conveniently forget about the interview altogether?”

Rumble gulps, and Amber Grain puts her hoof over her husband’s and tries to prevent more wrinkles from forming on his aged face with gentle words. It does not work.

“Because I had a word with Mr. Rich this morning and he said you didn’t even make an attempt to show up,” continues Gale, his tone becoming rapidly aggressive.

“Honey, please not in public,” begs Amber Grain with big eyes and a tightening hug.

“Not now, Amber,” says Gale quickly and without breaking eye contact with Rumble. “Rumble, when I was your age, I was employed at three places. Do you know what they were?”

Rumble's chair vibrates with his body as the old pegasus's green eyes bore into him, dismantling every sense of security he has with a wrecking ball. Thunderlane, meanwhile, wordlessly watches the scene. He is also stiff and his eyes shift between his brother and father in quick intervals, but he ends up keeping his eyes down to prevent himself from unintentionally provoking his father to turn his wrath on him.

With nearly thirty years worth of lectures stored in his memory, Thunderlane knows that it is best to ride it out. Acknowledge and answer, that is the role he played in such lectures, and he hopes that Rumble has enough sense to do those two simple things. He is also wishing that this will be the last one his sibling has to suffer through.

“Well, do you, Rumble?” asks Gale, his voice unforgiving and eyes narrowed as he slightly leans over the table.

“N-No. No, sir,” stammers Rumble, tears pooling in his eyes and pupils shaking like his body.

Gale scoffs. “Of course not. Well, let me tell you a little story of a colt who grew up in the East Winds of Cloudsdale. His family impoverished and living under the Pansy cloudlords, his mommy was sick all the time and his daddy was a drunk who gambled away the rent, leaving just the little colt to carry the weight of the family bills. He worked cleaning up the Rainbow Factory's shit, and he cleaned the filters of the Cloud Factory so spoiled brats like you could look at the pretty sky and have a decent clouds to live on. Then, on weekends, instead of being a kid, he delivered mail so everypony else can read the weather, see the scores or laugh at comics. Do you know who that colt was Rumble?”

Rumble gulps, tears now trailing his cheeks. “You... sir.”

Gale slams his hoof on the table, making everyone jump and moving the plates and cups a couple of inches, though his glass falls over and rolls off the table.

“Damn right it was me!” shouts Gale.

“Honey, please calm down,” begs Amber Grain as her attention shifts from Rumble's cowering figure and the stares.

“And guess what else, boy?” growls Gale in complete disregard for the attention he is receiving. When Rumble remains silent, the old stallion snorts and flaps his wings. “I said guess, boy.”

“You... You joined the-the Army?” sniffles Rumble.

“No, I did not join the Army, you dumb-ass! I joined the Royal Air Guard! I was recruited when I dropped mail at the Cloudsdale Recruiting Station for Staff Sergeant High Speed. He said I had no future doing what I was doing and I was off to Neighvaho to train at Cumulus by the end of the year. I graduated at the top of my class and went on to the Eighty Second Frontier Watch. For ten years, I hunted everything from dragons to golems and necromancers to vamponies before I was transferred to train new-bloods at Cumulus for five years. Everyday, from dusk to dawn I would root out the ones that would weaken the Guard from the ones that would strengthen it just so slackers like you could safely mooch off of the ones who support your lazy ass!”

Rumble is now whimpering and Thunderlane keeps his focus on his plate. He can feel the eyes of the patrons and hear their concerned whispers. When he dares to look around with his peripheral vision, he sees heads turned and staff quietly debating who should go up to deal with their table. Thunderlane looks back at Rumble and his mother and sees both of their eyes are red and puffy, but his younger brother is shaking so much in his seat that the vibrations are effecting the table.

Gale looks around at the patrons and staff, silently daring them with his scowl to come over to their table. When the heads start turning away, he looks back to Rumble and sniffs.

“Unfortunately for me, you are my son, so I cannot just kick you out of the family,” says Gale, his tone much calmer, but still stern and leaving no room for sympathy. “But I swear to you, Rumble, if you do not get your act together I will show you how nasty I can be. Enjoy your meal. Tab’s on me.”

After that is said, Gale delicately munches on his plate of hay and fish salad, resuming his uncaring attitude towards the lingering shock in the restaurant. Amber Grain looks at Rumble and offers a supportive gaze. Both of their eyes are wet, and Rumble is trembling in his spot, no longer hungry, and Thunderlane just finished his disappointing, eighty bit meal, surprised that his father had ended the lecture so soon. He figures that the quickness has something to do with the semi-public environment and the idea that his lecture could possibly bring out a terrible scene worthy of a newspaper article.

When the snobbish waiter walks by with brisk steps, Thunderlane holds up his hoof, stopping him, and he tries not to take the scornful expression personally.

“Can I see the menu again?” asks Thunderlane.

“No. One meal per patron,” says the waiter quickly.

Then he continues his walk, leaving Thunderlane hungry and his opinions about five star Crystal restaurants permanently scarred. Though, a part of him sympathizes with the waiter since he does not think anyone in their right mind would dawdle at a table that created a lot of commotion not even a minute ago.

Thunderlane sighs and looks at his plate, which is still lined with the delicious chocolate begging him to lick it up. After he looks to make sure the guests are all preoccupied with their own affairs, he hungrily drags his tongue across the trail of goodness. It goes well until he realizes his parents are staring at him, and he freezes with his tongue halfway across the plate and eyes bulged.

“Wow. You must be really hungry!” says Amber Grain.

“That was amusing,” says a stallion right behind Thunderlane.

The charcoal stallion jumps in his seat and nearly falls out when he looks over his shoulder to see two of the most powerful ponies in Equestria standing behind him. Directors Twilight Sparkle and Glimmer Fuller.

Not even the faint graying in her mane or the growing wrinkles around Twilight’s eyes can tarnish her pleasant appearance. She is easy on the eyes with her dark suit and purple tie, and the eyepatch she has is fitting for her appearance. But, even though Twilight’s eye is gone and faint scars slither out from underneath her patch in trails of pale purple, she still has a friendly smile.

As for Director Fuller, he has dyed his mane and tail so it no longer has streaks of gray running through their dark brown color. And his old age is hidden by how well groomed his amber coat is and the simple dark blue, pressed suit he is wearing with the CDA emblem pinned to his blazer. However, unlike Twilight, Fuller is keeping his phlegmatic look.

“Hi, Thunderlane, I haven’t seen you in a while!” chirps Twilight.

“Uh, yeah... Hi,” says Thunderlane with an antsy smile and wave.

Not wanting to be rude, Thunderlane gets up and he and Twilight exchange quick hugs. While Twilight’s new position has done her no favors in terms of her hair and complexion, she still has the same lovable, huggable and all around pleasant feel that can cure anyone of a bad morning. However, Thunderlane pulls away from her when Rumble gives him a wolfish smile.

“And here’s another little guy I haven’t seen in a while,” says Twilight with equal enthusiasm.

Rumble’s smile disappears to horror and now it is Thunderlane’s turn to smile villainously as his younger brother is attacked by Twilight’s hug. While Rumble is distracted with the Element of Magic’s hugging, Thunderlane notices that Fuller is moving to the other side where his parents are.

“General Hurricane, it is a pleasant surprise to see you here,” says Fuller.

Gale stands up and extends his hoof to the CDA Director, saying with a cruel smile: “I figured I’d give the little colt over there one last ray of sunshine before I beat a stallion out of him.”

Fuller presses his hoof against Gale’s. “You seem to be starting late.”

“I blame the missus.”

Gale smirks at Amber Grain, and she gives him a playful scowl before standing up and shaking hooves with Fuller as well.

“It has been a while, Glimmer,” she says.

Fuller smiles thinly. “Amber, you know I don’t like it when you use my first name.”

“But you have a nice name.”

Fuller chuckles softly and Thunderlane grimaces as the back and forth between the two ponies continues with the catching up conversation. However, what surprises him more than anything is Gale's laid back attitude towards the obvious flirting going on. He would expect his grizzled father to butt in and verbally tear Fuller a new hole for this, but nothing is said. Though, for the one-eyed Element, her scrunched brow and tight jaw is enough to show she has an unhealthy dose of covetous creeping in as a reaction to the scene.

Thunderlane slides towards Rumble when the lavender mare marches towards Fuller and positions herself shoulder to shoulder with him. Fuller's small smile fades to a faint, annoyed frown as he looks at Twilight, but she is too busy staring at Amber Grain with her one eye to notice. Thunderlane and Amber Grain both become visibly nervous from this, and Gale looks between Twilight and the older unicorn questionably. However, his curious look disappears with a couple of blinks, an unintelligible mumble and a sip of his drink.

Twilight looks back at Fuller, nudging up even closer to him so that their shoulders are pressed together. “So, Fuller, we really should get back to work.”

“Work?” repeats Thunderlane as he looks at Twilight, now realizing that she has a saddle filled with folders, as does the older, amber coated unicorn.

Twilight snaps to Thunderlane, making him flinch a little. “Yes. Work. Me and Fuller had planned on meeting here last week when we had a long conversation in my office about joint operations between Research and Development and the Civilian Defense Agency.”

Gale sighs and looks at Rumble with an unpleasant stare, forcing the younger pegasus to seek shelter by shrinking in his seat again.

“I wish my youngest knew the definition of work,” says the General with a shake of his head, “but kids these days are such slackers.”

“So the restaurant heard,” says Fuller.

Mostly everyone looks at Rumble again, with the stallions sharing the General's sentiment, Amber Grain looking at him with pity, and Twilight glaring at the grayed-cyan mare. Rumble's eyes shine in the light with the wetness covering them, and he shamefully slides off his chair and shrinks to the floor until he is out of sight.

Thunderlane shakes his head sadly and goes over to pat his brother on the back, who is now laying on the ground with a desire to leave the disgusted stares and the horrible morning behind.

“That being said, I don’t think he will be unemployed for too long,” adds Fuller, his tone brighter, but not by much.

“Why?” asks Gale.

Fuller’s horn glows and he pulls out a roll of parchment from his saddlebag and opens it up for the group to see. The only ones who do not make a move to see it are Rumble and Twilight. Rumble because he is petrified in his seat, and Twilight because she has already memorized it and does not need to see it. But Thunderlane is not petrified and has yet to memorize the piece of paper, so he leans next to his father to get a good view.

The words themselves are bulky and colorful, and the background is plain with silhouettes of ponies with white cutouts to look like a dress shirt hiding behind a jacket and tie. Thunderlane squints his eyes to read the thirty odd companies being there. Some of which are Rich Construction, Fancy Entertainment, and Flim Flam Corporation, along with law firms, retail stores, fast food joints and restaurants. But nowhere does Thunderlane see anything about Snowflake’s Gymnasium.

Until he gets to the bottom of the list.

Thunderlane smiles at Rumble and points at the advertisement. “Hey, Rumble, Snowflake’s Gymnasium is going to be there.”

“Where?” asks Rumble, his head barely peeking over the top of the table.

“At the job fair being hosted at the Canterlot Stadium.”

“Really!?”

Rumble would squeal like a filly if there is nobody around, and Gale chuckles like it is his birthday and he playfully slaps Fuller’s shoulder with a grateful smile. It is like Gale slapped a statue, though, since Fuller remains stiff and shows no facial signs of acknowledging the act.

“That settles it. Rumble, you’re going to that job fair, and you aren’t leaving until you are employed!” says Gale.

Rumble nods and the General turns to Thunderlane with a tight jaw and narrowed eyes to replace his smile.

“As for you, you’ll be going with him,” he orders, his tone now heavy as stone. “Make sure he does what he is supposed to and keep him safe from anypony that tries to give him crap, you got it?”

Thunderlane's hoof almost snaps up in salute. “Yes, sir!”

Gale's grin returns and he claps his hooves like a mad genius whose plan is finally coming together. “Good. Now let’s say we hit a theater before I put a Pansy in their place?”